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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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 Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject: The tourist scourge |
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This pretty much sums up the SE Asia 'experience' these days. The writing was on the wall as far back as 7-8 years ago, a real pity for a place like Luang Prabang which probably is (was) one of my favourite SEA destinations. Anyone who's been to Siem Reap in the last few years knows you may as well be at Everland. I personally love what the writer has to say about Joe Cummings.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/01/asia.tourism.ap/index.html |
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kangnam mafioso
Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Teheranno
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| When I was at the university I took a literature course that traced the scope of travel writing from Herodotus to Outside Magazine. We discussed topics such as: encountering the Other, the pros and cons of travel and tourism, the representation of the exotic, etc. At the end of the course, we had a debate on whether or not one should travel for pleasure these days despite all the negative consequences. We came to the conclusion that whether or not one travels, your culture, your whiteness, your Western beliefs and attitudes, are already traveling for you and the creation of a "MonoCulture" is inevitable. |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: |
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| did you guys notice there were links for laos tourism and meeting thai girls below the article? what a wonderfully sad contradiction! |
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crazy_arcade
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: The tourist scourge |
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| indytrucks wrote: |
This pretty much sums up the SE Asia 'experience' these days. The writing was on the wall as far back as 7-8 years ago, a real pity for a place like Luang Prabang which probably is (was) one of my favourite SEA destinations. Anyone who's been to Siem Reap in the last few years knows you may as well be at Everland. I personally love what the writer has to say about Joe Cummings.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/01/asia.tourism.ap/index.html |
Oh buddy---You ain't seen nothin' yet!!! Luckily for us, the majority of Americans don't have a passport and couldn't be bothered. A lot of euro-trash stick to get their cancer treatment at the resort.
Give the Chinese a few more years because once they have enough earnings to really start travelling outside of their own country--nothing's gonna be sacred anymore. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:44 am Post subject: Re: The tourist scourge |
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| indytrucks wrote: |
This pretty much sums up the SE Asia 'experience' these days. The writing was on the wall as far back as 7-8 years ago, a real pity for a place like Luang Prabang which probably is (was) one of my favourite SEA destinations. Anyone who's been to Siem Reap in the last few years knows you may as well be at Everland. I personally love what the writer has to say about Joe Cummings.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/01/asia.tourism.ap/index.html |
Having lived in New York City for a number of years I've dealt with just about every kind of tourist one can imagine. Manhattanites can spot a tourist in about 2 seconds - it's not really hard at all. Of course, apparently those of us who lived there were also somehow recognized by the tourists - simply by the fact how often we'd be asked by someone for directions, someone from out of town.
The tourists were so bad in some areas I never got around to visit the top of the Empire State Building - it was always too crowded. Same with the Statue of Liberty.
Now that I'm in Asia, I have been taking advantage of the proximity to many places I've always wanted to see and visit.
Yes, there are some who are appear rude, culturally insensitive and even downright ignorant of a local person's right to privacy but overall, the money spent on tourism is a much needed boost to a straggling economy in so many regions that have been devastated by war, poverty and corporate sweatshop aggression.
Not only that, but being able to share you experiences with those back stateside - wherever that is - who may never be able to travel to the same places broadens horizons for more than just the one who was actually there. No doubt it also broadens the horizens of the locals at the place being visited, exposing them to foreigners in a way they might not otherwise experience, whether willingly or not.
I recall stepping outside my apt to walk my dog in Manhattan one Thanksgiving morning. It was down the street from where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was going to pass and out of towners were flocking in. My dog always attracted attention because she was just so cute and friendly and this was no exception. I, on the other hand, was tired and just wanted to go in from the cold. It didn't matter to the tourists that were excited to talk to a "real New Yorker" about me - they considered stopping and chatting part of their experience for the day.
One learns to accept it and live with it as it's part of life - in New York, a very big part of life.
Being judgmental about how other people should or should not visit places and how those places should or should not manage their visitor's is being just as ignorant and, yes, arrogant as some of those tourists you deem so detrimental to the landscape.
That article had some valid points but overall it was a bit extreme and not to mention, downright negative. If anything, it made it sound like why visit those places at all?
Which sometimes, I honestly think is the point of such an article. It's just another kind of scare tactic to use to discourage citizens from meeting people in different cultures and ways of life.
I'm sorry, I just disagree wth this viewpoint. Maybe it's because in my circle of friends, I'm the one that's doing the traveling and sharing my trip with so many who will never have the chances I've had to see certain parts of the world. I do my best but sometimes I have difficulty traveling, mostly because I have to go it alone. It's too damn bad if some of you think that's inappropriate or unacceptable, and I know you do because I've seen the looks on your faces when older single women like me show up in a place like Siem Reap. or travel in a boat down the Mekong. or on a bus from the Thai border.
what is even more interesting is along the way I make so many friends of the locals and rarely of another foreigner. Jees - what is it anyway that makes Westerners turn on one another so viciously?
anyway, IMO only. |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:24 pm Post subject: Re: The tourist scourge |
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| indytrucks wrote: |
This pretty much sums up the SE Asia 'experience' these days. The writing was on the wall as far back as 7-8 years ago, a real pity for a place like Luang Prabang which probably is (was) one of my favourite SEA destinations. Anyone who's been to Siem Reap in the last few years knows you may as well be at Everland. I personally love what the writer has to say about Joe Cummings.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/01/asia.tourism.ap/index.html |
and if you ever visited these countries, YOU are part of the problem. |
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samd
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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The author is just sad to see these old places change, but they all do - it's inevitable.
In fact, the whole article comes across as selfish sentimental dribble. He liked all the places better when only he knew about them, and when they were "authentic" and dirt poor.
I also grew up in a tourist centre, and it is annoying sometimes, but the majority of the locals like it, because it gives them an income. I don't buy the "Even the locals involved in the industry are sick of the tourists" BS. They'd rather have tourist dollars than be as por as they were in 1974/80 etc.
By the way, I haven't been to SE Asia, but not for the reasons above. |
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Capo
Joined: 09 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| selfish is exactly the word to use see he want to Luang Probang two times and Siem Reap three times like he's the only one who is allowed to go. I too have been to those places, but who am I to say others cannot go - the only people who can pose this question is the locals and their governments. |
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